Totalitarianism

Catalog description

This course focuses on totalitarianism – both as an idea and a societal and state arrangement. The 20th century witnessed the rise of powerful totalitarian regimes in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Mao’s China. But it would be too easy to think that these particular nations were uniquely susceptible to totalitarian rule. Again and again, we are confronted with totalitarian phenomena in situations when individuals are asked or demanded to surrender their personal autonomy in pursuit of a collective goal. From the Nazi marching grounds in Nuremberg to Stalin’s show trials to the re-education camps during Mao’s Cultural Revolution to more recent charismatic cults in the United States, this course will draw on theory, literature, film, biographical accounts, and historical case studies to better understand the meaning and nature of totalitarian movements.